Song of the Week: IDLES Invite James Murphy to Their Party on “Dancer”

Paolo Ragusa
·8 min read

The post Song of the Week: IDLES Invite James Murphy to Their Party on “Dancer” appeared first on Consequence.

Song of the Week delves into our favorite tracks each and every week. Find these and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist, and for our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, IDLES returns with the charged, liberating new single “Dancer,” which features LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy and Nancy Whang.

It begins with a classic descending string arpeggio, straight out of a late ’70s discotheque. Get ready to dance, the opening seems to say, but it is not the intro to a Donna Summer tune, nor Jamiroquai, nor Dua Lipa. Within a second, IDLES arrive for their spin on a dancefloor beat: swampy, spine-tingling, hypnotic, and always threatening to explode.

The aptly-named “Dancer” is the first single off IDLES’ upcoming fifth studio album TANGK, which arrives next February and features production from IDLES guitarist Mark Bowen, Nigel Godrich, and previous collaborator Kenny Beats. When we last encountered IDLES on their excellent 2021 LP Crawler, the British rockers found a way to refine their chaos into slow-burning industrial fires and weightless bliss, turning personal anguish into blistering catharsis.

Now, vocalist Joe Talbot claims that TANGK is moving away from the dark subjects of their previous work and focusing on something different: “I needed love,” he said in a statement. “So I made it. I gave love out to the world and it feels like magic. This is our album of gratitude and power. All love songs. All is love.”

Despite the euphoria that Talbot’s statement suggests, “Dancer” is not all smiles and rainbows. There’s tension packed in the spaces between beefy guitar plucks and Talbot’s carnal phrases, and when he spits the words “…and the sweat,” you might check your deodorant.

There’s something deeply primal about dancing, and particularly when doing it with a group of people. There can be a willful exchange of autonomy, and the potential for bacchanalian escalations. It can be fun, of course, but it can also be a messy, passionate, violent, incomprehensible moment. This is what IDLES zero in on in “Dancer” — Talbot offers dense, evocative imagery, announcing that his “focus is on the cocoa butter running down your neck” and savoring the mood of the hour, which tastes like “particles of punch drunk love.” Before launching into each chorus, Talbot provides his conditions: “I give myself to you/ As long as we move/ On the floor.”

If exploring the relationship between ecstasy and primal fear on the dancefloor sounds like the work of a familiar outfit, it’s certainly on purpose — this is an intersection that James Murphy and LCD Soundsytem know particularly well. After touring together on this year’s RE:Set Festival, IDLES recruited Murphy and Nancy Whang for the song’s chorus — they may sound dwarfed beneath Talbot’s roars, Bowen and Lee Kiernan’s droning guitars, and Jon Beavis’ pounding drums, but it comes across as an enchanting spell rather than mere backup vocals.

In fact, “Dancer” doesn’t totally feel like an ode to late night disco sessions, and it seems more tailored for the kinds of mosh pits that are mainstays at IDLES concerts. But even amidst the violence and chaos, as Talbot suggests, you can find love and adoration. It’s the moment when the flurry of activity around you and the touch of other bodies reminds you of your inner animal, your senses heightened, the energy of the moment consuming you. It feels dangerous and exhilarating — a perfect summation of what IDLES can conjure out of thin air. Being hip-to-hip and cheek-to-cheek has rarely sounded so visceral.

— Paolo Ragusa
Associate Editor

Honorable Mentions

Tanukichan — “NPC”

With sour guitar chords, psychedelic flourishes, and dreamy vocals, Tanukichan’s “NPC” is yet another blissed-out offering that showcases the San Francisco songwriter’s brightest impulses. The song tracks the feeling of being in autopilot like an NPC, and finding joy and liberation in loneliness. She utters in the pre-chorus that it “feels kind of nice to disappear,” and when she launches into the song’s satisfying chorus, she finds serenity in feeling “a little frozen.” Sometimes it’s nice to let yourself be anonymous; if you decide to relish in that feeling yourself, then “NPC” is the perfect soundtrack. — P. Ragusa

Wishy — “Donut”

Wishy is the new project of Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites, and this week, they’ve shared their terrific single “Donut.” The track arrives ahead of a tour opening for fellow honorable mention Tanuikchan, and it’s a sublime slice of guitar-forward shoegaze that swirls and activates even in its dreamiest modes. While Krauter’s solo work often leaned towards classic pop melodies with an indie rock presentation, it’s a treat to hear him and Pitchkites lean heavily into extra-fuzzy guitars and a more muddied sound; think Slow Pulp or Soccer Mommy with twice the volume levels and an added dose of chaos. — P. Ragusa

IAN SWEET — “Smoking Again”

Bursting with dramatic energy right out the gate, IAN SWEET’s “Smoking Again” is the latest single to arrive from the singer-songwriter ahead of a November album, titled SUCKER. IAN SWEET captures that intersection between bright pop and restrained indie, and “Smoking Again” also lands in the arena of relatability: “I’ve been a mess, haven’t slept/ Started smoking again, and I’m trying to grow my hair out/ But I keep cutting my bangs/ Every time you say my name.” — Mary Siroky

Bea Miller – “gauche”

Miller’s fifth independent single of 2023 might be pulled from Miller’s real-life experience (specifically, that of a traumatic car crash she experienced at age 18), but the themes here feel deeply universal. “I try to be cool/ That’s an understatement/ But when I try to fight it, I just feel like I’m lying,” she sings, before heavy guitar kicks in for the chorus. Miller calls it the “most literal song she’s ever written” as she gears up for a US headline tour and more new music down the road. — M. Siroky

Sophia Scott – “Watering Roses”

The debut album from Nashville-based country artist Sophia Scott has arrived today, October 2oth. They say time heals all wounds, but for songwriters, there’s something clearly and particularly cathartic about putting deeply personal stories on paper — and that’s just what Scott is doing throughout Barstool Confessions. Album closer “Watering Roses” feels structurally reminiscent of the women in country of the ’90s, and generous backing vocals provide the perfect harmonic backdrop to bring it all together. — M. Siroky

Rid of Me — “The Weekend”

Ahead of the release of their latest album, Access to the Lonely, Philly rockers Rid of Me saw fit to share one final single, the brooding, epic “The Weekend.” With fuzzy walls of guitars, Itarya Rosenberg’s impassioned vocals, and a general, looming sense of darkness, the track manages to transform dissonance into a dynamic, satisfying piece of gothy indie rock. With singles this strong, it’s going to feel like a hell of a long week until the band treats fans to the entirety of Access to the Lonely. — Jonah Krueger

Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter — “HOW CAN I KEEP FROM SINGING”

Shed of her Lingua Ignota moniker, Kristin Hayter ascends past the pain and trauma that defined her previous era with her latest full-length effort, SAVED! No less haunting, enthralling, or artful, the new direction downplays her most abrasive, black metal-influenced tendencies, instead offering a more stripped-back presentation of piano and voice (with, of course, a little tape manipulation and noise thrown in for good measure). Closer “HOW CAN I KEEP FROM SINGING,” a cover of a traditional Christian folk tune, demonstrates such artistry, putting Hayter’s masterful performance and boundary-pushing ideas front and center. It’s beautiful, but complexly so, as you’ll be just as inexplicably unsettled as completely and utterly awestruck. — J. Krueger

Ducks Ltd. – “The Main Thing”

Toronto-based jangle pop band Ducks Ltd. has come through with a new track, titled “The Main Thing,” a catchy, chorus-driven track about growing apart from somebody. Featuring background vocals from Jason Balla of Dehd, the song is propelled forward by sharp guitar work that flows smoothly over a light drum pattern, keeping the track moving along at a casually fast pace. “I don’t believe in it now” repeats the chorus, with a sense of serenity in the feeling of giving up and moving forward from something that took so much of your life before. — Aidan Sharp-Moses

VIAL – “just fine”

Indie rock band VIAL are back with an upbeat track about being downtrodden. Taking contentment in the feeling of being “just fine,” the quartet find catharsis in everything going wrong, especially when it sounds this right. “I don’t want to feel good or even happy anymore/ And I don’t say this so you’ll have someone to feel sorry for” sings the band in defeat, until the background vocals build into a raging yell during the bridge. It sounds like they may not be as alright with being fine as they let on, and may have some more fight left in them. — A. Sharp-Moses

Jane Remover – “Idling Somewhere”

Jane Remover is an artist that has always defied labels and expectations, dodging the hyperpop definition since she broke out into the scene. With her new album Census Designated, featuring highlight “Idling Somewhere,” she bursts into noise rock with co-production from kmoe. Featuring shoegaze influence and cryptic lyrics with references to a failed relationship and the need for validation, the song is as catchy as it is weird and distinct. Jane continues to carve her own spot in the modern music landscape as one of the most idiosyncratic artists out there. — A. Sharp-Moses

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Song of the Week: IDLES Invite James Murphy to Their Party on “Dancer”
Paolo Ragusa

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